MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, US — Buoyed by a recently expanded soybean crush plant in Jordan, Manitoba, Canada, that ran at full capacity, Ceres Global Ag Corp. turned in a strong second quarter and the best six-month period in the company’s history.

Net income in the second quarter ended Dec. 31, 2021, totaled $4.03 million, equal to 13¢ per share on the common stock, up 204% from $1.33 million, or 4¢ per share, in the same period a year ago. Revenues, meanwhile, increased 74% to $304.8 million from $175.27 million, primarily due to higher commodity prices compared to the same quarter a year ago.

In the six months ended Dec. 31, 2021, net income was $12.8 million, or 42¢ per share, up sharply from $389,000, or 1¢ per share, in the same period a year ago. Revenues in the six months totaled $513.17 million, up 48% from $347.36 million.

“Despite smaller crops and lower inventories across the industry, we continued to find needed supply for key customers and consistently delivered high quality product on time,” said Robert Day, president and chief executive officer. “Key to our success again this quarter was our solid operational execution and strategic positioning ahead of the 2021 crop year. As a result, we achieved higher net trading margins, higher gross profit and a much-improved bottom line. Contributing to our positive results was our recently expanded soybean crush plant in Jordan, Manitoba, which ran at full capacity during the quarter and produced the best financial results in the plant’s history.”

A year ago, Ceres formed Farmers Grain, LLC, which allows the company to continue to work directly with growers to deliver value-added solutions for its customers. Ceres said the joint venture has made a major investment to add storage and unit train loading capabilities to its grain operation in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, US. Construction on the project is expected to be completed prior to the 2022 harvest.

In addition, Ceres said its plans to build an integrated canola processing facility in Northgate, Saskatchewan, Canada, remain on track to begin operations in the summer of 2024 after the company made $10.1 million in down payments to secure major equipment during the second quarter. Once operational, the facility will have the capacity to process approximately 1 million tonnes of canola and refine more than 500,000 tonnes of canola oil, for both food and renewable fuel, per year, Ceres said.